Nerve wrecking idiot comedy with Joe Shishido, Hiroyuki Nagato and Kôjirô Kusanagi goofing around after stolen money and master counterfeiter. Production design and Shishido's car are admittedly cool.
+ Sonny Chiba Special: Part 71
Violent Street (暴力街) (Japan, 1963) [35mm] - 3/5
Decent yakuza lieutenant Ken Takakura tries to strike peace between gangs while rivals and reckless subordinates (Shinjiro Ebara in full Hiroki Matsukata mode trying to make money with boxing and dirty gambling) alike give him hard time. This was one of the relatively few modern day ninkyo films (most were set in pre-WWII era), which lends to some interesting bits such as the "final walk" in contemporary milieu. Not especially well written, lacking the kind of strong honor/duty dilemma that is the backbone of the best ninkyo films, but there are many good scenes like a detailed yakuza ceremony in the opening and action packed ending. It's also surprisingly sexy, without explicit nudity, with one of Ebara's businesses being turning a traditional stage theatre into a strip theatre. Sonny Chiba has a decent supporting role as an impulsive young yakuza holding grudge against Takakura's gang. There's no character development for him but Chiba acts well and gets enough screen time to make it the film's third or fourth biggest role. The film is unrelated to the Hideo Gosha movie (1974) of the same title, btw.
Life of Blackmail (わが恐喝の人生) (Japan, 1963) [TV] - 3/5
Two kids and best friends (Tatsuo Umemiya and Sonny Chiba) go different paths, one becoming a gangster specializing in blackmailing and the other a policeman. Umemiya and Chiba share the top billing; however, it is Umemiya who gets the juicier role with most screen time as the blackmailer. It’s an entertaining modern day gangster film with an energetic score and young cast; however it feels a bit superficial as the script doesn’t really pit the two main characters against each other most of the time, which could have added psychological depth. The storyline is an adaptation of Shinji Fujiwara’s novel. Kinji Fukasaku directed a better version called Blackmail is My Life for Shochiku in 1968 with a vastly different rendering of the storyline. Chiba’s character does not appear in that film at all, and the blackmailer, played by Hiroki Matsukata, faces mostly different scenarios although some plot elements and characters are the same.

